New #MeToo Funding Fuels Empathy and Justice for Survivors

The Fund for the Me Too Movement and Allies has provided $840,000 in grant funds to organizations across the country doing work to address gender-based violence.

Within the past year, the Women’s Media Center reports that coverage of #MeToo in the mainstream media has grown significantly. As awareness about the detrimental effects of sexual assault continues to grow in our culture, the New York Women’s Foundation is fostering real efforts to aid #MeToo survivors. In May of 2018, the foundation created the Fund for the Me Too Movement and Allies, and now that fund has made $840,000 in its first round of grant funding. This is a collaborative effort, housed and managed by The New York Women’s Foundation, with the grantmaking decisions being made jointly with Tarana Burke, founder and leader of the #MeToo Movement.

Ms. Burke announced the first recipients of grants from the Fund for The Me Too Movement and Allies. “The money we are awarding today will undoubtedly make an impact in the work to end sexual violence because all eight organizations are doing tremendous work,” said Burke, in a press release announcing the new grants. Burke noted that all chosen grantee organizations are not only helping survivors of sexual violence, they are also “combating deeply-rooted systemic issues that allow it to persist across all our communities.”

In keeping with the core feminist philanthropy principle of inclusion, the Fund prioritized organizations “led by and for communities of color that give voice to women, immigrants, and LGBTQ people.” The first grant recipients are:

Congratulations to the grantees, and to the new Fund for #MeToo and its intrepid leader, Tarana Burke. This kind of funding is doing essential work to address one of the big drivers of inequality between men and women: sexual harassment and abuse. Hopefully, more funders will become aware of the value of this work in challenging unhealthy gender norms and helping us all live healthier lives.

Related

Author: Kiersten Marek

Kiersten Marek, LICSW, is the founder of Philanthropy Women. She practices clinical social work in Cranston, Rhode Island, and writes about how women donors and their allies are advancing social change.
View all posts by Kiersten Marek